With the college basketball season moving along, there have already been multiple shakeups at the top of the rankings. The Blue Zone will be here every Monday at noon until March giving you the biggest takeaways from each poll:
Down goes Duke
After suffering a loss to Michigan State in which the final score failed to indicate just how soundly the Spartans beat Duke, the Blue Devils find themselves at No. 10. Despite beating Bellarmine by over 20 points later in the week, the AP was not impressed with Duke’s overall showing last week.
The AP did reward Michigan State for its victory over the Blue Devils, penciling them in at No. 4 and making the Spartans the second highest ranked team in the Big Ten.
Duke has a prime opportunity for a rankings boost in tomorrow’s matchup with Illinois, but the sixth-ranked Fighting Illini will not go down without a fight. This matchup is the Blue Devils’ last chance at a signature win until they take on Florida State in January, all the more reason why Duke needs to come out sharp on Tuesday.
Not very lucky in Kentucky, Oregon or Wisconsin
Of the top 25 teams, three suffered losses to unranked opponents this past week, and the upsets were reflected in the new AP rankings. Wisconsin’s loss came as the biggest shock, as the former fourth-ranked team fell to Marquette and subsequently dropped to No. 13 in this week’s list. Kentucky and Oregon both fell out of the rankings, as both the SEC and Pac-12’s flagship programs will need to notch a few quality wins to boost their season resume.
Oregon’s loss is concerning for the Pac-12, considering they were the highest ranked team in the conference, and currently speaking, No. 23 Arizona State sits atop the conference. The SEC still has No. 12 Tennessee leading the charge, who unfortunately have not been able to play a game thus far due to COVID-19 postponements.
Baylor is booming
In one of the marquee matchups last week, Baylor made a statement with their 13-point win against Illinois, who at the time was No. 5.
While Gonzaga still remains top dog in the country, the Bears received seven votes for No. 1 and as of now look like a legitimate contender for taking a 1-seed into the NCAA tournament. Unfortunately, college basketball fans were unable to see the two face off on Saturday as originally planned due to positive COVID-19 tests within the Gonzaga program, but expect these two teams to challenge each other for the No. 1 spot all year long.
Baylor is one of several Big 12 teams who have impressed thus far and although at this point in the season it is unclear which conference has the strongest field, Baylor and company are certainly making a strong case for the Big 12.
Complete rankings:
1. Gonzaga
2. Baylor
3. Iowa
4. Michigan State
5. Kansas
6. Illinois
7. Houston
8. Creighton
9. Villanova
10. Duke
11. West Virginia
12. Tennessee
13. Wisconsin
14. Texas
15. Virginia Tech
16. North Carolina
17. Texas Tech
18. Virginia
19. Richmond
20. Florida State
21. Rutgers
22. Ohio State
23. Arizona State
24. San Diego State
25. Louisville
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Jake Piazza is a Trinity senior and was sports editor of The Chronicle's 117th volume.